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Praetorium Honoris

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Sir, The Men Are Angry...

(Source)

Major Jürgen von Lüttwitz looked up from his map at his two officers, Leutnant Manfred Sauer, commanding the 5th Company, and Leutnant Ralf Heinrich, commanding the battalion's armored detachment of one StuG IV and two Panthers.

"Meine Herren¹, we are a Panzergrenadier battalion in name only, we have no vehicles, other than our armor, and we are down to, what was it Manfred?" von Lüttwitz looked at Sauer as he asked the question.

"One hundred thirty infantry, well, most of them are infantry. I reorganized my 3rd and 4th Platoons into a single 3rd Platoon, those men were artillerymen and anti-aircraft troops, now that we no longer have those vehicles, I had to do something with them. The good news is that very few of them are raw recruits. Most of those died at Kreuzau or outside Köln. The ones who are left are good men, not really used to marching, but how far do we need to march anyway. What is it to Düsseldorf Ralf, maybe fifty kilometers? Two days?"

Heinrich thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "About that. But with these men, not used to marching, I'd say three days. Maybe your old Landsers could do it in two, I don't know."

"Call it three days then." von Lüttwitz said, "But..."

"Why go there at all?" Heinrich asked the question, which surprised Sauer. He knew von Lüttwitz as well as any man he'd ever known. The Major could see the increasing futility of resistance. They were losing men by dribs and drabs, one or two here, another three there. The battalion's strength had been cut by more than two-thirds in little over a month.

"Ralf has a point, Jürgen. The Americans are about to burst out of their bridgehead at Remagen, the Ic at division messaged me last night, I'm guessing your radio was off, the Tommies are preparing to attack north of the Ruhr, between Wesel and Duisburg. They are slow, but they are very methodical. Once they are across the Rhine, with the Amis rampaging to the south, whoever is defending the Ruhr will be cut off. They can either die or they can surrender. You know the SS will not surrender. The war is lost, we need to face that."

Sauer related all that in a matter of fact way, no dramatics, just the way he saw things. Von Lüttwitz noted that Leutnant Heinrich was nodding with each word Sauer spoke. His lieutenants were leaning towards surrender, he was starting to think in those terms as well. But one thing bothered him, a lot, that damned oath they had all sworn.

"The oath gentlemen, what about that?" Von Lüttwitz asked, "You remember it, yes."

He then recited it, from memory...

"I swear to God this holy oath
that I shall render unconditional obedience
to the Leader of the German Reich and people,
Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces,
and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared
to give my life for this oath."

Sauer nodded his head, then said, "For me Hitler forfeited his right to my loyalty when he had Army officers convicted, and executed, for often spurious reasons, last summer. You remember that, yes?"

Heinrich nodded and said, "A very good friend of my father was arrested the day of the bomb plot. He was stationed with the Reserve Army in Berlin. The SS came in and took him and his staff away. Rumors were rampant that they were shot to death, without a trial. Shot summarily, out of hand. Hitler can lick my ass. That man was like a second father to me."

"Yes, I consider my oath to be null and void, the Party, led by Hitler, is destroying the Fatherland. But we must be careful, the GFP are active in the area. As are the Waffen SS and the SD. Think things over carefully, have your sergeants monitor the men's conversations on the march tonight, tell them that I'm concerned about morale, which I am. But I'm also concerned that some of the men might desert. If we give up, it must be as a unit." Von Lüttwitz rubbed his hands together, it felt like they were in for another cold night march. Hard decisions lay ahead.


The night was bitter cold, Sauer and von Lüttwitz, along with their platoon leaders and other sergeants, roamed up and down the column. Sauer figured that for each meter the men marched, he had marched three.

There was grumbling in the ranks, the men were tired and angry. Sauer had heard one man, he thought he recognized the voice of one of his messengers, grumbling, "Why are we marching north, why are we still doing this?"

Another man hushed him saying, "Be careful what you say, the Party has its spies everywhere."

One man tried to start a marching song, the German infantry had loved to sing in the early days of the war. As another man took up the song, yet another told them both to just shut up. Many agreed, they were too tired to sing.

After some twenty kilometers, the head of the column entered Bergisch Gladbach, just when it was starting to get light. There, hanging from a lamp post, was a soldier, a German soldier. He had a placard around his neck with one word on it: Verräter.²

Von Lüttwitz heard the men muttering, one cried out, "Is this what we're fighting for?" The man's sergeant quieted him immediately, but the grumbling got louder. Eventually, as they passed the dead man, the men in the ranks went silent. It was one of the most disturbing things von Lüttwitz had ever experienced.

He was quite sure of his decision now, they must find a way to surrender to the Americans. If they went much further north, the British would be there. He did not wish to surrender to the British, they had long memories.

Better the Americans, he thought.

Just then Leutnant Sauer caught up with them, "We must do something soon, Herr Major. The men are angry, almost mutinous I would say."

Von Lüttwitz simply nodded and said, "The Americans?"

Sauer agreed, "That would be best, I think."





¹ Gentlemen
² Traitor

Link to all of the Chant's fiction.

72 comments:

  1. I want them to surrender to the US Army, but worry about what lies between them, and the Americans. What will they do with the Panthers, and the Stug?

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  2. Gott Sie Dank! Now it just needs to be done, avoiding the fate of the hanged. and if need be killing the vengeful who are furthering the destruction of their country to no end.
    Boat Guy

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    1. Things could get complicated in the next few days/weeks.

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    2. Already pretty complicated. Hoping that Herr Major and his Leutnant will catch a break or two.
      BG

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    3. We'll see what the Muse has in mind.

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  3. Hopeless future, intolerable present.... at least they had an option.

    Man, I'm seeing that in the news every day now... I hear it at work: "What about the oath?" "So, is the Constitution the government?" Your muse is listening to the same conversations I have been.

    Historical, current events.... Timely.

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    1. The only thing we're missing is the Reds advancing on the capital.. Oh wait, we've got those as well.

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    2. I regard the Constitution as the Idea of the US, put down on paper. There are those today destroying it because it limits their quest for power and personal gratification, and their egos can't stand that.
      Frank

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    3. Exactly, those who want to tear up the Constitution and do it their own way, deserve nothing less than our contempt.

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    4. The Reds are already in the Capital. Been there for years. And been openly fighting since late 2016 with heavy action in early 2017 and still continuing.

      Local 'friend' says they've been doing what happened at the Trump Inauguration for five years now except nobody is reporting it.

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    5. Spot on, Beans. Our national capital has been taken over by the enemies of the Republic. Fortunately we do have some folks inside as well.
      "John has a long moustache" will be coming to the airwaves one day.
      Boat Guy

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    6. BG -
      Les sanglots longs
      Des violons
      De l'automne
      Blessent mon cœur
      D'une langueur
      Monotone.

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  4. Loyalty is ALWAYS a two way street.
    Frank

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  5. The Third Reich is at the point where some will kill and destroy just to kill and destroy. Huh.......sounds like the "autonomous zones" here in the last year....

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    1. There are parallels. While I do believe that history will sometimes repeat itself, it always rhymes.

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  6. I hole the Major and Lt have the fortune to run into "our boys".

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    1. I hope my Muse is listening to you Coffee Man.

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  7. The moment of a realistic appraisal is a very hard one.

    I am at a loss Sarge - how were the British towards PO’s versus the Americans?

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    1. It's not that they necessarily were harsher, just that the Germans perceived them that way. After all, the Germans had bombed the Hell out of England, there was Dunkirk as well. Not to mention a number of SS atrocities towards British and Canadian POWs which started as early as 1940 and which had occurred again in 1944.

      Little known incident of Canadian soldiers in Normandy executing captured Germans on the beach. I need to dig into that one. The Americans were regarded as more easy going that the other nations. At least by the Germans and prior to Malmedy.

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  8. Yep. The enlistment oath has gotten a lot of talk of late.
    The German Army Oath seems to be worded such as an oath of fealty, and the oath I swore several times puts the Constitution first and foremost.
    Beans. I'm looking for an input from you.

    We seem unable to learn from our past.

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    1. John, I do not know if all people’s are prone to this, but Americans seem especially so.

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    2. The oath for both officers and enlisted has the "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;" clause up front, first and foremost. The German oath (for both military and civilian officials) was a personal oath to Adolf Hitler.

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    3. Toirdhealbheach Beucail - Many Americans are abysmally ignorant of what's in the Constitution, as are many lawyers, as is the Supreme Court on any number of occasions. Every single gun law on the books is unconstitutional. Don't look to the Supremes, remember they ruled that Dred Scott couldn't sue for his freedom as he was a slave. They kowtow to their political masters more often than not.

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    4. Unable to learn, seems to be endemic to humans. You can see the Folly Repeat Theater in European history.
      The Old Testament shows how the Jews kept repeating the same mistakes over, and over, and over, and....
      It's a wonder God didn't blow the whistle and order everyone out of the pool.
      Frank

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    5. That's because it wasn't EVERYONE :)
      Seemed to be one more of those 'let he who has ears, let him hear' lessons.
      Frank

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    6. There are rumors from veteran blogs that the new loyalty oaths being considered and already being used in some circumstances are more a personal oath of fealty to the powers-that-be rather than the Oath of Allegiance which is more an oath to the Constitution and to the People.

      It all started with servicemembers, mostly enlisted, being asked who they would support, the Oath or an illegal order. And that apparently went over like Guam with too many service members on it (well, at least Guam in Hank Johnson's mind.) So they stepped back and have been, according to the blogs I read, continually questioning and now are working on that Loyalty Oath that sounds suspiciously like the one in the story above or the one that the Soviets used or the CCP or the Norks still use.

      Loyalty to the Country as represented by Dear Leader and the Puppet Masters.

      And the reaction seems to be, from what I hear, either a resounding "Foxtrot Uniform" to "How soon can I get out?"

      So, well, there's something ugly coming soon.

      And the mess of making the Capital occupation force permanentish is further straining relations between politicians and the troops.

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    7. As to Acts of God. Well, we're coming up in a couple weeks to the date God tossed the keys of the Earthly Kingdom to us and said, "Try not to screw up too much, okay?" We are supposedly adults, and God is supposedly over treating us like kids. Betcha he's looking down and going, "THAT was a mistake... Oy Vey! They've gone meshugehnah!"

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    8. As such should be "strained" at least.
      Unfortunately we have a significant portion of the military that are very woke. The fortunate counter to that is that most of the pipe-hitters will remain true to the only Oath that matters; one I have taken and administered countless times and from which we are released only upon our death.
      Boat Guy

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    9. Beans #1 - A source if you please, should make fascinating reading.

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    10. Beans #2 - We shall see, won't we?

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    11. BG - I know quite a few servicemen and women, very few woke ones. Of course, I know very few flag officers...

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    12. I actually know a number of flags, now retired, worked for other GO/FO's and worked with and around any number of military members until recently. The "Intel Community" is in my experience greatly compromised, especially at the senior levels and I would assess that at least half of the folks in uniform are "represented" by that nitwit E-9 who decided to "take on" Tucker Carlson. The warfighters are far less compromised from what I've seen; BUT when you have guys like McChrystal spouting off as he has I find myself wondering about some of the new folks on the dark side.
      Interesting times.
      Boat Guy

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    13. BTW the Flags I am in touch with are not "woke" but as I note they are retired. I would point to McRaven as another woke and compromised Flag.
      BG

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    14. The Intrepid Reporter blogspot is the one where most of the info I've seen has been. He's a member of the E-4 Mafia, and is quite, um, er, blunt in his speech and writings.

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    15. BG - Intel community, woke, AYE.

      McChrystal and McRaven are both a disgrace to their uniforms.

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    16. Beans - E-4 Mafia, copy that. I'll check out that blog, thanks.

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    17. One last thing BG, the woke are even annoying some of our Allies!

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  9. How do they convey their intentions to the troops? (What about "true believers in their midst?) It seems unit cohesion is critical at this point. A lot more added to Herr Major's plate right now.... Fantastic installment, read it twice. Got me thinking of all the permutations from here.

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    1. And that is really the crux of the matter, there are a lot of young troops in the unit. Some no doubt are true believers. How will they be dealt with?

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    2. By this time the ranks know who's a fanatic and who's not. The proper way is by having the Sergeants talk to the non-fanatics and basically warn them beforehand.

      That and I seem to remember that the troops were more officer-loyal than US troops. I mean, they tended to view the officers as their feudal leaders and do what the officers told them to do. May be talking out my arse, but weird memories of this...

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    3. Good point. In the German army the lower level officers did get along well with their men.

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  10. Fragging is a real risk now, I would imagine.

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    1. Not sure the true believers would frag (and most of their grenades weren't frags, to pick at nits). I'm betting Jurgen and Manfred are adroit enough to make their eventual surrender look legitimate. The danger is greater from without (e.g. GFP) than within.
      Boat Guy

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  11. YES!!!!

    Now to pull it off.

    One of the ways would be to slow their movement down, not too hard to justify due to lack of food and clean water. Send out a loyal (to Herr Major) sergeant and handful of enlisted to 'scout ahead' and find a good candidate for the 'Surrender To' group. While other loyalists work on screening and blocking the police and SS who are trying to find deserters.

    A sucky situation. After all the clever and lucky escapes made, now they have to E&E their own side, who think like them. That similar thinking can be a good thing. Or a very bad thing. Set a thief to catch a thief at work, so to speak.

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    1. Put the true believers in one location, and stress the importance to them of protecting it while the others go out to round up food/fuel/ammo?
      Frank

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    2. Beans - Some good ideas there.

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  12. That hanging corpse, it was a hanging offense to cut them down. Sad.

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    1. It was indeed. It was meant to "encourager les autres."

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  13. Though it may not happen I am waiting for Lt Hernandez to hand Maj von Lüttwitz a cup of coffee.

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    1. That would be kinda cool, wouldn't it?

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    2. I'm thinking Capt Palmintieri should get that honor, for symmetry's sake. Likewise let Esteban give Manfred a beverage.
      Boat Guy

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    3. I like the way you guys think.

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  14. I am sure that conversation was repeated among countless small units. As far as marching songs I occasionally march to this!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uRWwbGCzZw

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  15. Hey AFSarge;

    I remember seeing pictures of the Reichwehr Soldiers swearing oaths to Adolf Hitler and thinking "This caused soo much problems, and I remember during the Petulant Boy Kings reign that there was scuttlebutt about the same kind of "Loyalty Oath" from the U.S Military and I was seeing all kind of problems and conflicts with the oath that we all had taken when we enlisted.

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  16. One of these guys is gonna get the “All Quiet on the Western Front” death, just not sure who yet....

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    1. You never know. I won't know until it happens. The Muse likes to surprise me.

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  17. I couldn't imagine what was going through the German troops the last few weeks of the war. Thanks for helping me see it their way. It must have been extremely demoralizing to go through what they did.

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    1. I have read a lot about that time period, it must have been harrowing.

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  18. Oath wording is one of most important things defining a military.
    Back in the BAD old communist times, Polish military had clause about "supporting alliance with Soviet Union", no less.
    As for the Landsers we have followed so long, it is first time they and our American friends have common goal.
    Fingers crossed for their success.

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    1. Yes, wording is important. It's also important how the troops perceive that oath, do they adhere to it because they believe, or do they pay lip service to it so as to fit in?

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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